Advent
by Lady Taliesin II
Summary: Advent: noun. The commencement of something great and marvelous, and also calendar of rather tasty chocolates counting down to Christmas. SBRL fluff, otherwise called The Advent Of Something Entirely Wonderful and Remarkable On All Counts.
1. One

So I've had this idea for about a week now, tried to squash it, and failed entirely. The idea is this – it's supposed to be a sort of "fanfiction advent calendar", with an update every day until December 24. Cliché, I know, but what can I say? There will be some vague sort of plot though and also much fluff, so never fear. Also, although I've been writing in the fandom for…five?...years now and have been reading S/R for quite a while, this is the first time I've ever tried my hand at writing it and so any feedback on that front would be greatly appreciated!

_Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. Also, this is slash. As in m/m, as in yaoi, as in if you don't like the idea of Sirius and Remus as a couple then this is probably not the fanfiction for you. Thanks! _

* * *

**ADVENT - ONE**

_Alternatively titled, The Advent Of Something Entirely Wonderful and Remarkable On All Counts_

There had been a tradition going on for quite a few years in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory – or, to be rather more specific, in Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter's dormitory. It had become a longstanding tradition because it had happened, inevitably, every single year from first up until sixth, and what it was was this: each and every single year, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black stayed at Hogwarts over the Winter Holidays.

Sometimes James stayed as well, or Peter did, or even once, back in third year, they'd all stayed together all at the same time. But Sirius never went home for the holidays, and Remus never did either, and so eventually they'd formed their own little tradition and were, vaguely, amused by it when every year, without fail, someone would mention the fact.

Besides being a slightly amusing coincidence it was also a very fortunate one, because Sirius was notoriously incapable of amusing himself and if he had been completely without any company of any sort for three weeks straight he might well have gone so far as resorting to going home for Christmas, which of course wouldn't have come to any good at all. And so it really was quite lucky that Remus stayed with him rather than leave him alone to resort to dangerous measures, although the original reason, all the way back in first year, why Remus had stayed was not so much to help maintain Sirius' already rather tenuous grip on sanity as to look after his own. It had been a rather unfortunate coincidence, but right up until fourth year there had always, inevitably, been a full moon at some point over break, and so any plans Remus might otherwise have had for holidaying and carousing were thus rather effectively squashed.

Fifth year there was, for once, no full moon at all until the second week in January, but Remus' parents were gone on holiday to visit his aunt in Russia and so there was no going home then. And then sixth year there was again, miraculously, no full moon, but by that time the tradition was set and it really wasn't any good even thinking about breaking it.

And so Remus had known ever since school started that he was going to yet again be staying at Hogwarts over the Winter Hols. It wasn't a sad thought by any means, but it was perhaps the tiniest bit resigned because Sirius, though obviously and absolutely and unquestionably one of Remus' very best friends in the whole wide world, had a tendency to be – well, Sirius. Not aggravating, _per se_, but occasionally rather more than a bit taxing.

But then again tradition was tradition, and Remus – though by nature not really one for conformity – had a deep and abiding and possibly even a bit embarrassing love of tradition.

And so it was that, yet again, he was staying at Hogwarts with Sirius while what seemed like every other person in the school left for break. James and Peter were leaving as well, although Peter, whose parents were dumping him at his Grandmother Thelma's house while they vacationed in Italy, didn't seem too pleased about it.

"I am not pleased." announced Peter loudly, standing in the middle of the dormitory and glaring vaguely off into nothing in particular. "Really, really not pleased. At all."

Remus knew perfectly well why Peter was not pleased. He'd known perfectly well, in fact, for just over a month now. But it was fairly obvious that Peter was expecting some sort of commiseration, and so with an inward sigh and a wan smile he went ahead and asked anyway.

"Why not?"

It was just the opening Peter had been waiting for. Remus listened politely to his rant for five whole minutes, long after both Sirius and James – assuming they'd been paying any sort of attention to begin with – had tuned out. Eventually, though, after listening to Peter's often little more than half coherent ravings on his Aunt's depravity, lunacy, and how the entire house smelled of wet socks, his mind began to slowly drift away to other things, and his eyes moved to settle on Sirius.

Sirius. Sirius was always good to watch, and not only because he was familiar and comfortable and oftentimes rather amusing but also because he was almost always doing interesting things.

He actually wasn't doing anything very terribly interesting right then, because all he was doing was sleeping, or at any rate pretending to sleep while Peter droned on and on and on. He wasn't doing an entirely good job of it because whenever Peter said something particularly incoherent he'd wince slightly, and when Peter unintentionally said something that Sirius thought was funny his mouth would twitch in a smile. It was a bit endearing and also, Remus thought, made Sirius look like a bit of a prat, and if he'd been trying to pull that off in the middle of anyone's soliloquy but Peter's he'd have been caught in an instant.

So. Peter was slowly but surely ranting himself to exhaustion and Sirius was making a complete arse out of pretending to be asleep and James was, judging from the steady stream of cursing and occasional banging and thunking noises coming from somewhere at the other end of the room, packing.

Remus closed his eyes, sighed, and with a great deal of effort managed to keep himself from burying his head in his hands.

The train out of Hogsmeade left in two hours. He could only pray that Peter had finished packing but it was quite possible that he hadn't so much as started, and James hadn't begun packing until about five minutes ago. And then, of course, Sirius was staying, and he could thus look forward to three full weeks of abject tiredness and possibly even slight insanity.

Tradition was, of course, tradition. And tradition needed to be respected and followed whenever possible and fitting and et cetera, et cetera.

Still, Remus thought, as he looked up just in time to see Sirius tackle Peter in a flying leap from behind, It was looking to be an almost (if not, perhaps, entirely) rotten Christmas.

Which just goes to prove, of course, that even normally quite intelligent sixteen year old werewolves with an abiding passion for chocolate and Shakespeare can be wrong sometimes.

It was going to possibly be the most magnificent and wonderful and absolutely life changing Christmas of Remus' life.

There were, of course, two rather serious problems with that, and the first was that Remus didn't know it and the second was that Sirius, who was also going to possibly have the most magnificent and wonderful and absolutely life changing Christmas of his life, didn't know it either and thus ran a rather serious risk of mucking everything up tremendously.

There was, however, one thing that they both knew and agreed on by an unspoken consensus, and that was this – all contingencies and insanities aside and all things considered, it was really quite an excellent tradition they had going, indeed.

* * *

Short, I know, but then again an update a day means chapters will be short(er). And also nothing much has happened yet, but I _promise_ stuff will happen provided that… 

I get reviews! As this project will take up quite a lot of time I need to know if there's any interest, and the only way I can know that is if people review. So please, PLEASE review and tell me what you think (good or bad)! **If there's interest I'll continue it – if there's not, I won't.**

Right. Thank you SO much for reading, and have a happy December – until tomorrow, ciao!


	2. Two

Yay, interest! Quite exciting, I'm sure. Thank you so much everyone who reviewed, and thank you so much for all of your advice - very helpful stuff. I hope you like this chapter as well!

_Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. Also, this is slash. As in m/m, as in yaoi, as in if you don't like the idea of Sirius and Remus as a couple then this is probably not the fanfiction for you. Thanks! _

* * *

**ADVENT - TWO**

_Alternatively titled, The Advent Of Something Entirely Wonderful and Remarkable On All Counts_

Remus went to bed at nine thirty that night.

Not because he was at all tired, because he wasn't. Actually he was still very much wide awake and could have stayed up for a good three hours or so still. There was, however, one very good reason why he went to bed, and that reason was Sirius.

Remus flattered himself that in their over five year acquaintance he'd grown to know Sirius fairly well. He knew, for instance, what Sirius' favorite flavor of ice-cream was (peppermint), and even which pair of socks Sirius wore every Tuesday (fuchsia ones, with red stripes). There was, however, one thing that he always, inevitably, forgot about Sirius Black every single year, and that was this – Sirius loved snow.

Why, he had no idea. But the fact remained, and while it was perhaps a mostly understandable passion it was also a rather aggravating one, especially when there wasn't any snow to be had.

Like now.

It hadn't snowed yet, at least not properly. There had been a few flakes and a bit of sleet and such but no proper snowfall, nothing that, as Sirius so eloquently put it, was so deep you could "catch a kneazle in it".

Remus hadn't the faintest idea what that was supposed to mean, but the fact remained that Sirius had been griping and moping about all day and by nine thirty he was so sick of listening to Sirius whine that he threw down his book, pleaded a headache, and marched straight upstairs, and, not even bothering to change into his pajamas, collapsed straight into bed and closed his eyes.

Three weeks. Three weeks with no one but himself and Sirius Black in the whole of Gryffindor Tower, and already, only ten hours into it, Sirius was whining about snow.

Remus groaned, and buried his face in his pillow.

It was going to be a very, very long three weeks.

* * *

"Remus! _Remus!_"

"Mmrghh…"

"Remus! Get _up_, you lazy –"

"Wha'?"

Remus realized, vaguely, that there was something wrong. It was very dark and rather cold and entirely quiet and he felt so tired that he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes again and go straight back to sleep.

But Sirius was, for some entirely inexplicable reason, standing over him and grinning like a madman, rather effectively spoiling whatever hopes for sleep Remus might otherwise have had.

"Look outside!" hissed Sirius, leaning forward so that his face was barely a foot from Remus'. Remus, for his part, winced. "Look outside, Moony!"

It really was way too early for this. Too tired to disobey, Remus yawned, rubbed his eyes, and turned to stare blearily out the frosted window to the right of his bed.

Ah. So that was what this was about.

"S'very pretty." murmured Remus placatingly, shoving Sirius gently but firmly off of his bed and snuggling back under the blankets. "S'very nice. Snow, right? Very good."

Sirius looked stricken. "Moony! It's not _just_ snow, it's, it's…it's _snow_, Moony!"

It was hopeless, of course, but Remus went ahead and tried to reason with Sirius anyway. "Pads, s'four in the morning. Sleep now, okay? Please?"

Sirius leapt back onto Remus' bed and shook Remus' shoulders desperately. "Get _up!_ Up up up! It's _snow_, Moony! The first snow yet! We have to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?"

Sirius' face hardened, and Remus wished, belatedly, that he'd thought of something better to say.

"Snow. Snow. We are going outside. Get up."

Remus knew, somehow, that Sirius was going to say that.

"Oh." And then – "Do we have to?"

* * *

It was now nearly six in the morning. Remus wasn't quite as tired as he had been before, but he was now very cold and wet and perhaps the slightest bit happy but there was no way he was going to tell Sirius that.

Sirius, for his part, was utterly and absolutely delighted and had no qualms whatsoever about showing it.

"Moony! Moony, wait up!"

Sirius was, if anything, ten times colder and ten times wetter and also ten times happier than Remus. His hair clung to his face in wet strands and his hands were red and swollen from the cold but he looked absolutely ecstatic, and hard as he tried Remus couldn't feel even the tiniest bit of bitterness toward him, even considering his early morning wake up call.

Remus did pause and wait, right at the edge of the steps leading back to the castle. It wasn't that he particularly cared to linger out in the cold, even at Sirius' bidding, but rather that it was absolutely gorgeous outside and was worth waiting to see.

It had stopped snowing half an hour ago, and grey clouds had given way to ribbons of fiery orange and faded pink and just about every color in between. The grounds were white as anything and the Forbidden Forest looked like it had been frosted with snow and it all looked so perfect that Remus' heart ached a bit, although again he'd never tell Sirius that because it made him sound rather like a pansy.

"Moony! Hallo." Sirius had finally caught up to him and after a moment's consideration Remus turned to smile slightly at him. "What did I tell you, eh? Worth coming outside for."

Remus didn't say anything. It had been worth coming outside for, actually, but there was no way he was telling Sirius that. "Mm."

"It was, and you know it." Sirius grinned in his very familiar, cheeky fashion, and despite all his best efforts Remus found himself grinning reluctantly in return. "It was completely worth it. Two snowball fights, one Snow Snivellus, and countless snow angel Moonys and Padfoots, and you say nothing. Moony, I'm ashamed."

Remus just shook his head, still smiling, and led the way up the steps. "It was alright, I suppose."

"Better than sleep." insisted Sirius, catching up to Remus and slinging his arm over Remus' shoulders. "Much, much better than sleep. This was _fun_, Remus. The meaning of this word may be foreign to you, so let me explain. Fun is spending a full two hours with your very best friend in the whole wide –"

Remus threw his hands in the air, surrendering with a laugh. "Fine! It was fun. A bit. If you insist."

The answer seemed good enough for Sirius, who grinned in response and pulled off Remus' scarf, ignoring Remus' objections as he wrapped it around his own neck with a satisfied sigh. "And now – I have yet another brilliant plan."

Remus looked dubious. "Really? And what's that?"

Sirius only grinned. "Wait and see."

* * *

So...still like it? If so, then please review! Constructive criticism is especially appreciated, as I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing.

Many, many thanks to everyone who reviewed _(and cheeseish - what I meant to say was that Remus knew ever since school started that he'd be stuck with Sirius over break, but you're right, it sounds weird. I went back and fixed it, so now we're all good),_ and thank you so much for all your VERY helpful advice - it was very, very much appreciated!

**And if you haven't reviewed yet - I am going to need all the encouragement I can get, because this is quite a daunting project. So please review, it really will help keep me going!**

Anyways - thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and until tomorrow - adios!


	3. Three

Back again! With bad news, unfortunately - circumstances have arisen which are going to make it...difficult...to continue updating every day, once a day. I'm still going to try my very hardest but if I don't quite manage then just know I'm doing the very best I can. Thanks!

_Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. Also, this is slash. As in m/m, as in yaoi, as in if you don't like the idea of Sirius and Remus as a couple then this is probably not the fanfiction for you. Thanks! _

* * *

**ADVENT - THREE**

_Alternatively titled, The Advent Of Something Entirely Wonderful and Remarkable On All Counts_

Remus knew where they were going now. It hadn't taken all that long to figure out, actually, but he hadn't the heart to tell Sirius that yet. Sirius just looked so _pleased_ with himself, that was the problem.

"Just wait, Moony." said Sirius excitedly, grabbing Remus' hand and yanking him down the nearest side passage, just past the Great Hall. "Just wait. It's an absolutely brilliant plan."

"Oh, I'm sure." agreed Remus, staring around as they passed by all too familiar portraits and tapestries. "…Sirius?"

"What?"

"I think…I mean, I – oh, never mind."

It really was no use – Sirius looked entirely too happy for Remus to spoil his fun. "I'm sure it will be an absolutely smashing surprise." he said at last, flushing slightly and staring studiously down at his feet as Sirius euphorically grinned at him.

"It will be." promised Sirius, taking a sudden left down a side passage and dragging Remus along after him. "It will be an absolutely smashing surprise. Just wait."

Finally they arrived, exactly where Remus knew they would.

And still, Sirius didn't say anything. Right. This had gone on quite long enough.

Remus had never prided himself on his theatrical ability. Overly dramatic gestures were usually reserved for Sirius, or even James, especially when the latter was caught in a fit of excessive unrequited love for a certain Miss Evans. Still, occasionally certain overtures were entirely necessary and justified.

"The Kitchens!" he exclaimed clapping a hand to his mouth and taking a step backwards for dramatic effect. "Really, Sirius, I'd no idea. This is all so…unexpected!"

Sirius stared at him, nonplussed. "Huh?"

It wasn't precisely the answer Remus had been expecting, and, feeling slightly let down, Remus lowered his hand and bit his lower lip. "Er…good job surprising me, is what I mean."

Sirius looked as though he very much wanted to laugh but was, for the sake of Remus' feelings, managing, with a great deal of effort, to restrain himself. "Moony, you didn't…_this_ wasn't the surprise, you sap."

Remus was beet red by now, and rather annoyed to boot. "You just…you just looked so _happy_ with yourself…" he muttered under his breath, as Sirius finally gave into temptation and laughed. "Fine. Fine. Laugh if you like, but I just…I didn't want you to feel bad…"

Sirius stopped laughing, although his eyes were still dancing. "Now see, Moony, you've gone and done just the opposite. I am now rather amused, and not at all sad or anything in the slightest. So there. Now come on, the surprise is inside…"

Sirius reached up and tickled the pear, which chuckled and swung open obediently. He grabbed Remus' arm and made to tug him inside but Remus just swatted his hand away and stood, his arms crossed in front of him as he glared at Sirius from the center of the corridor. "Padfoot?"

"Hmm?"

"What is the surprise, if it's not this?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, and grabbed Remus' arm again. "Come in and see!" he insisted, dragging Remus through the opening and into the Kitchens. "It's a really excellent surprise. It really is. And, coincidentally enough, it is also a '_surprise'_. Which means that I'm not going to tell you what it is and you're just going to have to be patient and see for yourself."

Remus made a face, but followed Sirius through the portrait hole and into the Kitchens.

Even though most of the school had left for break the Kitchens were still in full swing. House elves were busy doing seemingly every task imaginable, from stoking fires to fetching ingredients from the enormous pantries at the far end of the room to overseeing the cooking. However, they all turned as one when Remus and Sirius entered the room, and bowed low. The obsequiousness was almost sickening, but Remus attempted to smile as small voices from every side of the room piped greetings at them.

"Yes, hello…good morning…hello…"

"Morning!" shouted Sirius brightly, wading through a sea of small elf bodies trying to press him with food and drinks. "No thanks, nothing for us…no, really, we're not hungry at all…"

This wasn't true, not in the slightest. Remus was starving, and still cold and wet with melted snow and he really could have done with a mug of steaming hot chocolate laced with butterbeer in front of one of the room's roaring fires. Sirius, however, seemed to have other plans.

"Your attention for a moment, please!" shouted Sirius, vaulting on top of the nearest clean countertop as the attention of every single elf in the room turned to him. "Right. I am Sirius Black, as most of you know. And this is Remus. Remus Lupin." Remus waved, feeling slightly foolish, and Sirius slightly to grin at him. "Now. As I'm sure you all know, it's almost Christmastime. Actually it is Christmastime. And it is almost Christmas. A time of great, you know, sentimentality and nostalgia, and all of that –"

Remus had absolutely no idea where this was going, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know, either.

"– For Remus especially. Good old Remus Lupin, sacrificing his family's company for the sake of his dear old chum, Padfoot. I mean, really. It's the least I can do to treat Remus to his favorite Christmas traditions, if he can't be with his beloved Great Aunt Bertha and her twenty cats for Christmas, right?"

Remus didn't actually have a Great Aunt Bertha, much less one with twenty cats. He did have a Great Aunt Mabel, but she didn't like him much and she was certainly one of the last people on earth he'd want to spend Christmas with. Sirius was very much preferable to her – again, yet another thing he'd never tell Sirius.

" – So your cooperation on this is very much appreciated, I'm sure." It appeared Sirius had finished – he leapt down from the countertop, ignoring the elves' disconsolate mumbling as he traipsed over to Remus and slung an arm over his shoulders, steering him over to the nearest empty oven. "What do you think of your surprise, then? Good, isn't it?"

Remus realized, belatedly, that he'd completely missed the great unveiling of Sirius' much-anticipated "surprise".

Damn.

"Er…yes. Yes. It's positively brilliant and absolutely everything I could have possibly hoped for." he said vaguely, staring about confusedly as half a dozen elves lugged over huge sacks of what looked like flour and sugar and trays piled high with mountains of everything from chocolate bits to eggs to bowls of creamy yellow butter. "…Sirius? Er, Padfoot?"

"Yes?"

"What – what, exactly, is the surprise?"

Sirius sighed self-deprecatingly, and wheeled Remus about until he was positioned directly in front of the oven. "We are baking cookies, the muggle way."

Remus gaped at him. "What?"

Sirius rolled his eyes again. "Baking cookies. You told me you used to do that, remember?"

"No! No, I don't! And, and…and that was back before Hogwarts, Sirius, that was back when I was five and I don't know –"

Sirius clapped a hand over Remus' mouth, rather effectively shutting him up. "Moony. We are baking. I am selflessly helping you relive the glories of your Christmases past. Okay? It'll be fun. And in the end we will have very delicious food that we will eat lots of, and there will be great happiness. Okay? Okay."

"Okay," murmured Remus, pulling Sirius' hand off of his mouth and staring around despairingly. Sirius grinned, and clapped his hands briskly.

"Right. What do we do first?"

* * *

Thank you very much to everyone who's reviewed so far! _(and Bottlebrush - The socks were a Christmas present several years ago from Peter, who unfortunately is almost entirely lacking in the fashion sense department)._ They keep me going, they really do.

Again - there's a good chance updates won't be quite so punctual, but as that would really make me very sad I'm going to try my hardest to keep them on time.

Thanks so much for reading, if you enjoyed it (or even if you didn't!) then **PLEASE REVIEW**, and until tomorrow - bye!


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